List of former Football League clubs

The Football League comprises professional football clubs from England and Wales. It was established in 1888 and in 1892 the Second Division was formed, with the existing division being renamed the First Division.^[1] The First World War caused the league to be postponed from 1915 to 1919 and two seasons following its resumption a Third Division was introduced for one season, before being regionalised as North and South.^[2] The 1958–59 season saw the introduction of a Fourth Division, with the top 12 clubs from the Third Division North and South from the previous season starting in a national Third Division, and the bottom 12 starting in the Fourth Division.^[3] The introduction of the Premier League, which superseded the First Division as the top-flight of English football, caused a reorganisation of the English football league system in 1992, with the Fourth Division being disbanded.^[4] The First Division, Second Division and Third Division were rebranded as the Championship, League One and League Two respectively ahead of the 2004–05 season, which came as part of a sponsorship with Coca-Cola.^[4]

From the 1986–87 season, the club finishing bottom of the Football League's basement division was relegated to the Conference National, the highest level of non-League football,^[5] depending on the ability of the Conference champions to meet FA requirements.^[6] Before this, clubs would lose their league status by failing to gain re-election after finishing in the bottom four of the bottom division.^[7] Since the 2002–03 season, the bottom two clubs of League Two face relegation to the Conference.^[8]

The list includes clubs that are current members of the Premier League, who lost their Football League status upon promotion, and those which lost their status by other means. This includes clubs which have become defunct, merged with another club or have been relegated to a lower position in the pyramid.

Contents 1 Clubs 1.1 Current members of the Premier League (2011–12) 1.2 Other former member clubs 2 See also 3 Footnotes 4 References

Clubs

The tables show the first and last seasons in which each club competed in the league. Some clubs' membership was intermittent between their first and last seasons. Clubs shown in bold were among the founder members of the league. As of 2011, the founder member clubs playing in the league are Burnley, Derby County, Notts County and Preston North End.

Current members of the Premier League (2011–12)

Club	First league season	Last league season	Ref(s)
Arsenal	1893–94	1991–92	[9]
Aston Villa	1888–89	1991–92	[10]
Blackburn Rovers	1888–89	2000–01	[11]
Bolton Wanderers	1888–89	2000–01	[12]
Chelsea	1905–06	1991–92	[13]
Everton	1888–89	1991–92	[14]
Fulham	1907–08	2000–01	[15]
Liverpool	1893–94	1991–92	[16]
Manchester City	1892–93	2001–02	[17]
Manchester United	1892–93	1991–92	[18]
Newcastle United	1893–94	2009–10	[19]
Norwich City	1920–21	2010–11	[20]
Queens Park Rangers	1920–21	2010–11	[21]
Stoke City	1888–89	2007–08	[22]
Sunderland	1890–91	2006–07	[23]
Swansea City	1920–21	2010–11	[24][25]
Tottenham Hotspur	1908–09	1991–92	[26]
West Bromwich Albion	1888–89	2009–10	[27]
Wigan Athletic	1978–79	2004–05	[28]
Wolverhampton Wanderers	1888–89	2008–09	[29]

Other former member clubs

Club	First league season	Last league season	Reason	Current status	Ref(s)
Aberdare Athletic	1921–22	1926–27	Not re-elected	Defunct	[30]
Accrington	1888–89	1892–93	Resigned	Defunct	[31]
Accrington Stanley	1921–22	1961–62	Resigned	Defunct, Accrington Stanley later formed and are playing in Football League Two	[32]
Aldershot	1932–33	1991–92[A]	Liquidated	Defunct, Aldershot Town later formed and are playing in Football League Two	[33]
Ashington	1921–22	1928–29	Not re-elected	Playing in the Northern League Division One	[34]
Barrow	1921–22	1971–72	Not re-elected	Playing in the Conference National	[35]
Bootle	1892–93	1892–93	Resigned	Playing in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division	[36]
Boston United	2002–03	2006–07	Relegated	Playing in the Conference North	[37]
Bradford Park Avenue	1908–09	1969–70	Not re-elected	Defunct, revived version of the club playing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division	[38]
Burton Swifts	1892–93	1900–01	Merged with Burton Wanderers to form Burton United	Defunct	[39]
Burton United	1901–02	1906–07	Not re-elected	Defunct	[40]
Burton Wanderers	1894–95	1896–97	Not re-elected; later merged with Burton Swifts to form Burton United	Defunct	[41]
Cambridge United	1970–71	2004–05	Relegated	Playing in the Conference National	[42]
Chester City	1931–32	2008–09	Relegated	Defunct, Chester later formed and are playing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division	[43]
Darlington	1921–22	2009–10	Relegated	Playing in the Conference National	[44]
Darwen	1891–92	1898–99	Resigned	Defunct, AFC Darwen later formed and are playing in the North West Counties Football League Division One	[45]
Durham City	1921–22	1927–28	Not re-elected	Playing in the Northern Premier League Division One North	[46]
Gainsborough Trinity	1896–97	1911–12	Not re-elected	Playing in the Conference North	[47]
Gateshead	1930–31	1959–60	Not re-elected	Defunct, revived version of the club playing in the Conference National	[48]
Glossop	1898–99	1914–15	Not re-elected	Playing in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division	[49][50]
Grimsby Town	1892–93	2009–10	Relegated	Playing in the Conference National	[51]
Halifax Town	1921–22	2001–02	Relegated	Defunct, Halifax Town later formed and are playing in the Conference North	[52]
Kidderminster Harriers	2000–01	2004–05	Relegated	Playing in the Conference National	[53]
Leeds City	1905–06	1919–20[B]	Expelled	Liquidated	[54]
Lincoln City	1892–93	2010–11	Relegated	Playing in the Conference National	[55]
Loughborough Town	1895–96	1899–1900	Not re-elected	Defunct	[56]
Luton Town	1897–98	2008–09	Relegated	Playing in the Conference National	[57]
Maidstone United	1989&–90	1991–92[C]	Liquidated	Defunct, revived version of the club playing in the Isthmian League Division One South	[58]
Mansfield Town	1931–32	2007–08	Relegated	Playing in the Conference National	[59]
Merthyr Town	1920–21	1929–30	Not re-elected	Defunct	[60]
Middlesbrough Ironopolis	1893–94	1893–94	Resigned	Defunct	[61]
Nelson	1921–22	1930–31	Not re-elected	Playing in the North West Counties Football League Division One	[62]
New Brighton	1923–24	1950–51	Not re-elected	Defunct, revived version of the club playing in the West Cheshire Amateur Football League Division Two	[63]
New Brighton Tower	1898–99	1900–01	Liquidated	Defunct	[64]
Newport County	1920–21	1987–88	Relegated	Defunct, revived version of the club playing in the Conference National	[65]
Northwich Victoria	1892–93	1893–94	Resigned	Playing in the Northern Premier League Premier Division	[66]
Rotherham County	1919–20	1924–25	Merged with Rotherham Town to form Rotherham United	Defunct	[67]
Rotherham Town	1893–94	1895–96	Resigned	Defunct	[68]
Rushden & Diamonds	2001–02	2005–06	Relegated	Playing in the Southern Football League Premier Division (provisional)	[69][70]
Scarborough	1987–88	1998–99	Relegated	Defunct, Scarborough Athletic later formed and are playing in the Northern Counties East Football League Premier Division	[71]
South Shields	1919–20	1929–30	Relocated and became Gateshead	Defunct	[72]
Southport	1921–22	1977–78	Not re-elected	Playing in the Conference National	[73]
Stalybridge Celtic	1921–22	1922–23	Resigned	Playing in the Conference North	[74]
Stockport County	1900–01	2010–11	Relegated	Playing in the Conference National	[75]
Thames	1930–31	1931–32	Resigned	Defunct	[76]
Wigan Borough	1921–22	1930–31	Resigned	Defunct	[77]
Wimbledon	1977–78	2003–04	Relocated and became Milton Keynes Dons, with AFC Wimbledon formed in protest to this	Defunct, AFC Wimbledon playing in Football League Two	[78]
Workington	1951–52	1976–77	Not re-elected	Playing in the Conference North	[79]
Wrexham	1921–22	2007–08	Relegated	Playing in the Conference National	[80]
York City	1929–30	2003–04	Relegated	Playing in the Conference National	[81]

See also

• List of former Scottish Football League clubs
• Timeline of English football

Footnotes

References

General

• "footballsite.co.uk". footballsite.co.uk. http://www.footballsite.co.uk/Statistics/ClubbyClub/ClubIndex.htm. Retrieved 22 August 2008. 

Specific

Football in England The FA PFA LMA National teams England B C U-21 U-20 U-19 U-18 U-17 U-16 National Football Centre St George's Park (Burton) League system Premier League The Football League Championship League One League Two Football Conference National North South Northern Premier Southern League Isthmian League Levels 9–23 Domestic cups FA Cup Football League Cup FA Community Shield Football League Trophy FA Trophy Conference League Cup FA Vase FA Inter-League Cup Others Masters Football Lists List of clubs Current managers Stadiums by capacity By altitude Venues Competitions Trophies and Awards History Records